(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic payment service using a mobile terminal, a method for activating the electronic payment service, and an electronic payment means. Particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic payment means activating server and an activating method thereof in which an inactivated electronic payment means provided in a mobile terminal is activated to pay traffic fares, purchase prices, and official fees.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Recently, an electronic payment means has been provided in a mobile terminal to pay the cost of using various forms of transportation, including a bus or subway, to pay the cost of purchased products, or to pay official fees.
Payment methods using the electronic payment means include a previous-payment method and a post-payment method. In the previous-payment method, money is previously charged onto the electronic payment means, and the cost of using a predetermined service is subtracted from the charged money for each usage (e.g., a transportation fare). In the post-payment method, transportation fares incurred by a user are calculated by a bank or a mobile communication company to charge the user monthly.
A service using the payment methods is provided to a mobile terminal including the electronic payment means. Therefore, a mobile terminal manufacturing company launches a mobile terminal while the electronic payment means is mounted in the mobile terminal, or a user using a mobile terminal without the electronic payment means receives a chip or an electronic card including electronic payment means from a related company (e.g., a bank or a mobile terminal manufacturing company) to mount it into the mobile terminal.
However, since the mobile terminal including the electronic payment means is provided to a user while the electronic payment means is activated, an additional payment may occur in an undesired situation. For example, when a passenger using a transportation payment card or a credit card having a transportation fare payment function cannot be away from a transportation fare charging device after paying a transportation fare, an additional fare may be charged to the passenger by a mobile terminal of the passenger when the mobile terminal accidentally touches the transportation fare charging device. In addition, the transportation fares follow a transportation fare rule in which the transportation fare varies according to various classes (e.g., an elementary school student, a middle and high school student, a senior citizen, a handicapped person, an institutional recipient, a livelihood protection recipient, an adult, and so on), and a passenger breaking the rule may receive a fine. Therefore, the mobile terminal including electronic payment means having the transportation fare payment function is frequently used by users that are different from those registered to the mobile terminal, and therefore only adults may register the mobile terminal having the transportation fare payment function.
Further, when a chip or an electronic card is additionally mounted onto the mobile terminal, there may be inconvenience of asking for the chip or the electronic card, receiving it, mounting it onto the mobile terminal, and providing personal information.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.